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We’re back! The Dumpling Diaries continue with the unlikely journey of a Central Asian street food that became one of South Asia’s most beloved snacks. We discuss all the words to describe a flaky pastry enveloping a spiced meat and vegetable mixture, the Mamluks and the rise of the Delhi Sultanate, and how the earliest … Continue reading Dumplings Diaries 4: The Seventh Samosa

As we gear up for Thanksgiving, we revisit an all-American food favorite. We discuss one of America’s most divisive and storied holiday desserts: pumpkin pie. We discuss Indigenous farming practices, the myth of the first Thanksgiving, and how New England used tourism to elevate the story of Plymouth Rock. Finally, we discuss the connection between … Continue reading Holiday Rewind: American Pie

After a HUGE hiatus, we’re back! We traveled, we lost sleep, we experienced life’s ups and downs, but here we are, returning to our first love – this podcast. And we resume talking about dumplings. This week, we discuss a true champion of dumplings (the momo), Ancient Nepalese-Tibetan geopolitics, and Buddhist mythology. Finally, Faye can’t … Continue reading Dumpling Diaries 3: Lost in the Himalayas

This week, we dig into our first dumping – the humble gyoza. In our dumpling taxonomy, the gyoza is a “true dumpling.” We discuss Chinese medicine, the history of Sino-Japanese relations, and how gyoza (or their ancestors) may have been found in tombs in Western Asia. Finally, we argue that dumplings are good for your … Continue reading Dumpling Diaries 2: Memoirs of a Gyoza

We’re kicking off our long-awaited dumpling series by providing a methodology. Oftentimes, we find ourselves asking, “what is a dumpling,” and in this mini-episode, we provide the answer that will guide us throughout this series. We present three categories of dumplings and some examples. Finally, we leave you with some myths surrounding dumplings.

This week, we share a belated Eid and Easter episode with all of you. We discuss the parallels between Easter and the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar, how Abrahamic religions incorporate maamoul into their springtime holidays, and why the ancient Egyptians had depictions of maamoul. Finally, we trace the history of date cultivation in the Middle East, … Continue reading One Maamoul to Rule Them All